Updated

More Germans watched their women's team kick off the World Cup against Canada than the men's game against Serbia at last year's tournament in South Africa.

FIFA says Sunday's match achieved an average audience of 15.4 million with a peak of 18 million toward the end, which represents one quarter of the German population.

That is a record for a women's soccer match in Germany. It beat the average audience of the group match between the men's team and Serbia at the 2010 World Cup match by nearly 10 percent.